NFL Charities

After the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in America one group gave $10 million to assist those who lost loved ones in the attack, as well as to help fire, police, and rescue workers who helped in the aftermath. The same group later gave, in September 2003, $5.5 million in aid for the education, training, and betterment of police and rescue workers who had responded to help people after the tragedy. The same group gives money to fund research to provide treatment to those affected by sports injury, honors one teacher in America every year, constructs centers for at-risk children in cities across America, teaches men on health issues, including their heart, diabetes, mental illness, prostrate cancer, and other issues, and serves Americans in countless other ways.

Many people might not realize that the organization which helps people in all these ways is the National Football League (NFL). Many people may just know about the football league and watching their favorite team. The www.jointheteam.com website, however, shows that the NFL is also involved in helping people.
The NFL helps too many people in too many ways to list all of the ways the league helps. Some of them will be listed here, however.

The $10 million was given by the National Football League and National Football League Player’s Association (NFLPA) in the initial months following the terrorist attacks. After giving the money already described, in September 2003, the NFL/NFLPA voted to direct the third and final phase of the fund that had been established to develop diversity education toward America’s youth.

Every year NFL Charities gives medical research grants that target sports injury prevention, injury treatment, and similar issues that affect the health and performance of athletes. Funding is given to non-profit educational and research institutions only.

For more than a decade the NFL has constructed Youth Education Towns (YET) in Super Bowl host cities. The initiative is aimed at positively impacting youth in troubled neighborhoods. The centers provide educational assistance, job training, technical education, life-skills development, and a place for recreation.

There are currently ten YET centers in America, and that number is growing. Plans are underway for centers in Detroit (the site of the most recent Super Bowl), Houston, Jacksonville, and Honolulu. The NFL and the Detroit Super Bowl Host Committee plan to donate $2 million toward the construction of the $6 million facility. The NFL has donated $14 million toward the YET campaign since it began.

The NFL planned to launch a “NFL-YET Across America” program in the spring of 2006.

Other youth programs the NFL participates in include: Teacher of the Year; Punt, Pass and Kick; Player Development for kids 12-14; and Play it Smart.

Many people have watched children 8-15 demonstrate their football skills against each other, since 1961, in the Punt, Pass, and Kick competition.

In the Player Development program, children from 12-14 are taught skills in a step-by-step manner that is fun. The NFL selects local high school coaches to do the teaching. The student participants are also involved in a life skills/character development curriculum, incorporated by on and off the field events.

The NFL High School Development program teaches inner city kids how to become successful college student athletes.

The Play it Smart program partners student-athletes with coaches to transform a passion for sports into a greater good in young lives. The coaches become mentors, teachers, counselors, friends, and coaches. The goal is to improve grades, Study Halls, SAT prep classes, college admission procedures, and life skills. The program has a 98% high school graduation rate, and 87% of participants go on to college.

Health programs of NFL Charities include: Play Safe! Health and Safety Series, which provides coaches, players, and parents with user-friendly health information; NATA and PETA scholarships, which are given annually to more than 50 students pursing a career in athletic training; Teamsmart, which focuses on the importance of eating and physical activity in helping students become their best; and the already mentioned Tackling Men’s Health.

The NFL is also involved in community outreach. In Pro Bowl Outreach every year the NFL gives money to Hawaiian charities (the Pro Bowl is played in Honolulu.) to focus on youth programs, education, and physical fitness. In recent years the Hawaii’s Children’s Cancer Foundation, The Salvation Army, Hawaiian and Pacific Islands Division, Valley of Rainbows, Armed Services YMCA and Friends of Foster Kids have all received $100,000. A Yet Center will soon be completed as well.

As a part of Super Bowl outreach, the NFL every year stages multiple events to enliven, enrich, and assist each year’s Super Bowl community. Proceeds from ticket sales are donated to the local Yet Center. There are events like Kids Day at the NFL Experience, the NFL Alumni Youth Clinic, and the Super Bowl Cheerleading Clinic. There is also a major home refurbishing project, a building project involving Habitat for Humanity, a lecture on Careers in Sports, a golf classic, and other events.

The NFL also has a variety of volunteer programs, including the NFL Man of the Year Award, which honors a player for his excellence on the field and community service, the Student All Star Program, which promotes youth volunteerism by funding community improvement projects, the NFL Community Quarterback Award, which honors community volunteers for their leadership in bettering their hometowns, the NFL Junior Community Quarterback program, which honors high school and college students for leadership in volunteerism, and Hometown Huddle, and an NFL-wide day of service for coaches, wives, and staff from each team.

The NFL also has a variety of programs to promote diversity. Some of the programs are offered in countries around the world.

The next time you think of the NFL, maybe you might remember that the league is involved in more that just furnishing a league for your favorite team to play in.